PART-TIME REAL ESTATE INVESTING, a.k.a. property-side hustling

[Jim K.]

Something that @Don Konipol recently pointed out in another thread of mine is that successful real estate investors from all walks of life really do seem to share a unified trait: THEY LOVE REAL ESTATE.

They're obsessed by it. They talk your ear off about property given half an opportunity. It's a lifestyle for them, not something they pick up in their off time and leave off easily when there's something else to do that occupies their interest. NOTHING ELSE occupies their interest in the same way.

So this is an informal poll: does anyone here in the BP forums do real estate purely on the side and doesn't wish they did it full-time? Is it a contained interest for you, and you could either take it or leave it? If you day-trade or read the tea leaves for hot stock tips or play the ponies or simply put your money in index funds, do any of these things occupy your interest like real estate?

Ultimately, does anyone really ever set out to do real estate as a minor part of their life's ambitions and succeed in it as a side hustle that they spend a carefully limited amount of their time and energy on?

Or do you simply have to be obsessed to even have a chance to make it in this business?

[Chris John]

I'm a teacher so I value my free time above all else (except for God and family, of course).  My original goal was to buy 5 rentals and have them paid off by the time I retired.  However, market manipulation has presented a couple of opportunities to me since 2009, so I've ended up with more than I expected. 

So, I started buying between 2009-2012, which was a few years earlier than I wanted (I was hoping my wife would be back to work after raising the kids through kinder and we'd have two incomes). However, it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up for obvious reasons. My brother and I bought 11 SFR at that point, so I did have my 5.5 and thought I was done.

Then, while bored during Coronavirus, I came across biggerpockets and was convinced that it was a great time to refinance and buy as much as possible.  We're now up to 37 doors and a part owner in another small business.  We have property managers and don't run the small business, so my workload is minimal.

Of course I keep an eye on the market, but finding anything for a guy like me would be way too much work.  I can't compete with the actual pros and only buy when the market makes it absolutely obvious that I should.  I'm back to dormant and waiting for the next obvious opportunity, should it present itself.  I love Psalm 37:7.  I know it's not the exact meaning, but I'm a big fan of "Be still..." if you don't know what your next move is.